Memorial Weekend Airtrip

May 28, 2008

We took the long weekend to visit New York. You can find photos from our recent trip in our New York gallery. Photos from previous New York trips can be found in the America East gallery as well.

Kevin drew up a very ambitious itinerary for the trip but after a few complications, the itinerary got scrapped and we enjoyed a much more laid back weekend. There were more crowds than expected and some activities just had less appeal. For instance, we skipped a visit to the Met to spend a few hours lazing around central park.

Hotel:

We stayed at the Union Square Inn located in the East Village. It wasn’t our first choice but it was close to the things we had planned, it was affordable and most importantly it was available. The location was great, just a few blocks north of Greenwich and Bleeker street and literally right next to the 3rd Ave subway station. The room was “cozy” but it had a private bathroom.

Dinner and Jazz night:

After a day of fighting the crowds we had a reservation at Hangawi Korean Restaurant in Midtown. It was great. Upon entering, you remove your shoes and take a seat on a pillow in front of a low table. The restaurant is entirely vegetarian and has a large, varied menu. We shared a bottle of organic red wine. We chose the set menu which started with vegetable soup served in a flaming bowl followed by salad and a series of appetizer courses. The entree consisted of a mushroom dish and todok (Korean root) served with kimchee. For dessert, we had lemon tofu pudding with pine nuts. Awesome.

Hangawi was a really great experience with excellent service, great atmosphere and amazing food. I highly recommend it to everyone. After dinner we were so exhausted from our long day that we decided to skip Small’s Jazz club. If you’re looking for a comfortable venue to hear great music I recommend Small’s.

Dinner and Comedy Club Night:

On Sunday night, we went to what is probably the greatest restaurant EVER to exist and probably ever will exist. It’s called Red Bamboo and the menu is entirely vegan/vegetarian. But wait, it gets better. Their menu is huge and includes many cuisines including Asian, Seafood (veg), Italian and Soul Food. That’s right SOUL FOOD! As an appetizer we had Buffalo Wings that make BW3’s wings pale by comparison and shrimp and pork egg rolls. Lisa had a vegetarian fish fillet sandwich and Kevin had Dante’s Cuisine: black pepper beef medallions in a mushroom gravy with sweet corn mashed potatoes and steam asparagus and zucchini.

A visit to Red Bamboo is worth the price of a plane ticket to New York for any vegetarian. It’s located in Greenwich Village.

Just a few blocks away from the Red Bamboo was our comedy venue for the evening: The Comedy Cellar. We got there a bit early so we stopped in at the coffee shop next door to recharge. The lineup was a well known list of great comedians including Lisa Landry and Kevin Brennan. We missed Dave Attell by one night.

The Comedy Cellar was a good experience in a small venue. It seems like they always have good acts and it’s a place I would recommend.

-Kevin

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